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The boys lured me away for a much needed break. Usually we can keep pretty entertained locally, but the rain pattern as of late seems to be ruining every single one of my days off. So to dry Utah we went! I came across Goblin Valley State Park on Pinterest and we made it happen.

Square marshmallows....fascinating!! (This is how the boys convinced me to camp...kidding.)

Ready. Set. Go!

Leaving Colorful Colorado...just as a random lady ruined my photo op.

Hello, Utah!

Glad we weren't heading that direction...but the storm looked cool from afar.

Getting closer...

Made it!

Luckily they had a camp site open (first come, first serve)... but we wasted no time and started hiking before we set up camp.

The boys LOVED it! Every minute of it... I was so worried Riley was going to be a bored, hot, moody pre teen. Nope. He was the happiest I'd seen him in ages. It was hot in the desert, but it wasn't an uncomfortable hot...at least not yet. I probably wouldn't go any later than mid June, but it was so worth it.

Sometimes the boys blended in to the picture... Where's Reece?

Photo credit: Reece.... he called it a Jayhawk lizard. He saw blue and red on it.

That's me...Riley loved photo bombing us.

When you first see the valley of "goblins" you think they really just look like a bunch of mushrooms... but as you start to study them, you begin to see faces. Eyes, noses and mouths...it was fascinating!

Photo bomber!!

We found Reece and Riley goblins! ;)

We made it to Goblins Lair... we climbed down into this cave, here is a picture looking straight up. 

Fire time! We don't cook with charcoal a lot... so we had to practice patience a lot when it came to meal time.

This was Reece's favorite spot to hang out at our campsite...he got to use his "monkey" skills ... a lot!!

Our campsite...You can see Reece's ledge just about the tent.

Picture overload of Reece... he wanted to climb and have his picture taken. Classic Reece!

Another view of the campsite, from our tent...love how you can see the many layers in the mountains.

Our foil dinner. Asparagus and salmon.

Where's Riley?

Oh, he is just picking a gigantic nose! 

We found ET! ET phone home!

You just can't wrap your mind around how these formations became!

Hi Jake!

Peek-a-boo!

Fancy tricks!

Riley thought he could be goblin.

Big Air!!

S'more time! Yum!

Final hike... Carmel Canyon. This is where we packed up and left. What a fun 24 hours! I just can't believe all the fun the boys had...it was just like a huge play ground. They played hide and seek and raced around like they were in a maze. Well worth the trip!